High Mountain Desert Weather "Patterns?"

I realize that the weather is generally a boring subject, but when I realized that our 70-range sunny weather is being shoved over by a wicked cold front JUST as Thanksgiving comes and my parents fly in for a visit, well, that becomes interesting. In a bad way. Check out this forecast:

Forecast Conditions

High/Low °F

Precip. Chance

High Temperatures Low Temperatures Precipitation Wind Speed

Tonight Nov 21 Rain / Snow Showers Late N/A/37° 40%			High not valid after 2pm
Thu Nov 22 Few Showers 51°/32° 30%			51°F
Fri Nov 23 Rain / Snow Showers 49°/31° 30%			49°F
Sat Nov 24 Rain / Snow Showers 43°/24° 40%			43°F Grab Your Skis

Yuck. I guess it's time to pull out the sweaters. And here are a few choice sentences from a "special weather statement" we get:

STRONG COLD FRONT EXPECTED TONIGHT... ...WINTRY WEATHER AND THE COLDEST TEMPERATURES OF THE SEASON THIS WEEKEND...

A COLD FRONT WILL PUSH INTO THE AREA THIS EVENING WITH STRONG EAST WINDS EXPECTED...

INCREASING CHANCES FOR MOUNTAIN SNOW SHOWERS AND LOWLAND RAIN SHOWERS ARE EXPECTED OVERNIGHT FRIDAY NIGHT... YET ANOTHER COLD BLAST IS EXPECTED DURING THE DAY ON SATURDAY ... THE RESULT WILL BE CONTINUED CHANCES FOR SHOWERS AND THE COLDEST TEMPERATURES THUS FAR IN THE SEASON...STRUGGLING TO MAKE IT INTO THE LOWER 40S IN THE LOWLANDS.

AS TEMPERATURES FALL LATE SATURDAY AFTERNOON...LOWLAND RAIN SHOWERS WILL BEGIN TO MIX WITH SNOW BEFORE TURNING OVER TO ALL SNOW SATURDAY EVENING. OVERALL...SIGNIFICANT SNOW ACCUMULATIONS ARE EXPECTED ACROSS AREA MOUNTAINS...